Mendola, MariapiaBredenkamp, CarynGragnolati, Michele2012-06-082012-06-082007-12https://hdl.handle.net/10986/7547This paper investigates the extent to which the health systems of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and Kosovo) have succeeded in providing financial protection against adverse health events. The authors examine disparities in health status, healthcare utilization, and out-of-pocket payments for healthcare (including informal payments), and explore the impact of healthcare expenditures on household economic status and poverty. Methodologies include (i) generating a descriptive assessment of health and healthcare disparities across socioeconomic groups, (ii) measuring the incidence and intensity of catastrophic healthcare payments, (iii) examining the effect of out-of-pocket payments on poverty headcount and poverty gap measures, and (iv) running sets of country-specific probit regressions to model the relationship between health status, healthcare utilization, and poverty. On balance, the findings show that the impact of health expenditures on household economic wellbeing and poverty is most severe in Albania and Kosovo, while Montenegro is striking for the financial protection that the health system seems to provide. Data are drawn from Living Standards and Measurement Surveys.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO HEALTH CAREAGRICULTURAL WORKERSALTERNATIVE MEDICINEAMBULATORY CAREBULLETINCAPITA HEALTH EXPENDITURECATASTROPHIC EXPENDITURECATASTROPHIC EXPENDITURESCATASTROPHIC HEALTH SPENDINGCHRONIC DISEASECHRONIC ILLNESSCITIESDEMAND FOR HEALTHDEMAND FOR HEALTH CAREDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDIFFERENTIALS IN HEALTHDISABILITYDISEASESDISPARITIES IN HEALTHDOCTORSDRUGSEAST EUROPEECONOMIC RESOURCESECONOMIC REVIEWECONOMIC STATUSELDERLYELDERLY POPULATIONEQUITY IN ACCESSETHNIC GROUPSEXPENDITURESFEMALE CHILDRENFINANCIAL IMPACTFINANCIAL PROTECTIONFINANCIAL RISKFINANCING HEALTH CAREFOOD NEEDSGENDER DIFFERENTIALSHEALTH AFFAIRSHEALTH CAREHEALTH CARE COSTSHEALTH CARE DEMANDHEALTH CARE EXPENDITUREHEALTH CARE FACILITIESHEALTH CARE SERVICESHEALTH CARE SPENDINGHEALTH CARE UTILIZATIONHEALTH COSTHEALTH COSTSHEALTH DEMANDHEALTH ECONOMICSHEALTH EXPENDITUREHEALTH EXPENDITURESHEALTH FACILITIESHEALTH FINANCINGHEALTH INSURANCEHEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGEHEALTH INSURANCE SCHEMEHEALTH ORGANIZATIONHEALTH PRICESHEALTH PROVIDERSHEALTH SECTORHEALTH SERVICEHEALTH SERVICESHEALTH SPENDINGHEALTH STATUSHEALTH SYSTEMHEALTH SYSTEM REFORMHEALTH SYSTEMSHEALTH-CAREHEALTH-CARE EXPENDITUREHEALTHCARE EXPENDITUREHEALTHCARE EXPENDITURESHEALTHCARE SYSTEMHOSPITAL CAREHOSPITAL UTILIZATIONHOSPITALIZATIONHOSPITALSHOUSEHOLD BUDGETHOUSEHOLD EXPENDITUREHOUSEHOLD INCOMEHOUSEHOLD LEVELHOUSEHOLD SIZEHOUSEHOLD SURVEYHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN DEVELOPMENTILL HEALTHILLNESSILLNESSESIMPACT ON HEALTHIMPACT ON POVERTYINCIDENCE OF POVERTYINCOMEINCOME CONSTRAINTINCOME COUNTRIESINCOME DISTRIBUTIONINDIVIDUAL HEALTHINEQUALITIES IN HEALTH STATUSINEQUALITYINFANTSINFORMAL PAYMENTSINSURANCEINSURERSINTERNATIONAL POVERTY LINEINTERNATIONAL POVERTY LINESLABOR SUPPLYLATIN AMERICANLEVEL OF EDUCATIONLIVING STANDARDSLOCAL COMMUNITYLOW-INCOME COUNTRIESMEDICAL CAREMEDICAL EXPENSESMEDICAL PERSONNELMEDICAL SERVICESMEDICAL STAFFMEDICAL SUPPLIESMEDICINESMIDWIVESMINISTRY OF HEALTHMORBIDITYNATIONAL POVERTYNATIONAL POVERTY LINESNUMBER OF PEOPLENURSENURSESNUTRITIONOUTPATIENT CAREPARAMEDICSPATIENTPAYMENTS FOR HEALTH SERVICESPER CAPITA CONSUMPTIONPOCKET PAYMENTPOCKET PAYMENTSPOCKET PAYMENTS FOR HEALTH CAREPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOORPOOR HOUSEHOLDSPOOR PEOPLEPOPULATION DIVISIONPOPULATION ESTIMATESPOPULATION GROUPSPOVERTY ASSESSMENTPOVERTY ASSESSMENT TEAMPOVERTY GAPPOVERTY IMPACTPOVERTY INCIDENCEPOVERTY LINEPOVERTY LINESPOVERTY MEASURESPOVERTY STATUSPRESCRIPTION MEDICINEPRESCRIPTION MEDICINESPREVENTIVE HEALTH SERVICESPRICE OF HEALTH CAREPRIVATE CAREPRIVATE DOCTORSPRIVATE SECTORPROBABILITYPROGRESSPUBLIC EXPENDITUREPUBLIC HEALTHPUBLIC HEALTH EXPENDITUREPUBLIC HOSPITALPUBLIC PROVIDERSPUBLIC SECTORPUBLIC SPENDINGREMOTE AREASREMOTE REGIONSRESPECTRURALRURAL AREARURAL AREASRURAL POORRURAL POPULATIONRURAL REGIONSSCHOOL QUALITYSEXSOCIAL HEALTH INSURANCESOCIAL HEALTH INSURANCE SCHEMESSOCIAL SCIENCETRANSPORTATIONURBAN AREASURBAN CENTERSURBAN POPULATIONVULNERABLE GROUPSWORKERSWORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATIONWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-4444